The Knot Real Wedding Submission Guide & Tips for How to Get Selected

Have you long aspired to have your nuptials or wedding-related celebration shown off in a national publication? Or are you someone who's planned or photographed wedding you think everyone needs to see? Well, that dream could become a reality through The Knot Editors. By following The Knot wedding submission guidelines below, you'll be able to not only get eyes on your event, but also give other couples inspiration for theirs, including making note of your wedding vendors who helped bring the celebration to life. Keep reading to get answers to all of your submission questions, and learn how to get your Real Wedding featured in The Knot, aka one of the top wedding publications today.

In this article:

• Frequently Asked Questions About The Knot Wedding Submissions
• How to Send Real Wedding Submissions to The Knot

Frequently Asked Questions About The Knot Wedding Submissions

Want to know how to get your wedding published on The Knot? Below are answers that address all of the common questions vendors and couples have concerning the submission process. Trust us, you're going to want to bookmark our answers.

Who Can Submit a Real Wedding to The Knot?

Typically, photographers take the lead on submitting weddings to The Knot for consideration, but other pros and folks in the wedding business (like the wedding planner) can take charge as well, but they'll need the photographer's permission. There's one catch: Newlyweds can't submit their wedding independent of a wedding pro. They have to team up with one of their vendors to submit.

Generally speaking, we suggest that the entire vendor team and the couple connect on a game plan for submitting. While a wedding photographer has to give their permission to have their images published, The Knot also requires the couple to complete a questionnaire about their love story and wedding vision. Since multiple people involved in the day will have responsibilities in the submission process, it's a great idea to work as a team when it comes to submitting to The Knot.

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What Does The Knot Look for in Submissions?

We want to help couples celebrate the moments that make us. While we have a soft spot for unique, one-of-a-kind weddings, we're looking for celebrations where couples made unexpected statements to have "their wedding, their way." We want weddings documenting newlyweds who've planned their celebrations to be authentically their own, therefore inspiring other couples through their relatability and personalization. Perhaps a couple honored their religions, blended their cultures or just let go of the old wedding rules and wrote their own playbook. We're most inspired by details we haven't seen before that tell a couple's story.

Want more specifics on what we're on the hunt for in a couple's The Knot wedding submission? Read through the following to better understand what the editors are looking for in 2026 and 2027.

• We look for wedding pros within our ecosystem. Currently, we're prioritizing submissions from photographers, venues and planners with business listings on The Knot Vendor Marketplace. See if your photographer, venue and planner all have storefronts on The Knot before submitting your Real Wedding. The bonus here for couples is that you can explore reviews and much more on The Knot. If you're a vendor who isn't currently listed on The Knot Vendor Marketplace, but wants to learn more about how it can help you reach the best couples for your business, check out weddingpro.com.
• We seek a variety of photography. We seek albums that are full of great photography that include a mix of horizontal and vertical photos, along with scale variety, no matter the photography style. This means photos that are black and white, film, direct flash and much more are accepted (and encouraged).
• We want albums that tell a cohesive story. In your photo selection, convey a sense of place and a cohesive style. We typically start The Knot Real Weddings albums with an environmental shot or a couple portrait, which sets the tone for the album. Please add multiple shots of design details (like stunning tablescapes and unconventional seating charts) as well so editors can get a sense of the wedding's style. Also, don't forget to include candid shots of the couple—we love those. These key moments of the day help us get a sense of the celebration's energy.
• We need a healthy assortment of photos. While we tend to curate a final album of about 30 to 40 photos, please send at least 80 photos for large celebrations and wedding weekends, while 100–150 is most ideal. We want to see it all. From clambake welcome parties to farewell brunches by the pool, send us images of everything that made the celebration special.
• We look for unique and personalized details. Storytelling is at the core of our Real Weddings. We want to show how couples made their weddings unique to them, so show us the bespoke accents that made the day shine—from wedding invitations and signage to place settings, wedding cakes and centerpieces.
• We want events from every season. We run beautiful celebrations from all four seasons. It's important to have inspiration for all our readers, regardless of when they're hosting their weddings.
• We prefer authentic celebrations. Within the context of our Real Weddings coverage, we only publish photography of celebrations with real couples, which means we don't accept styled shoots. Even though styled shoots can be inspirational, and we occasionally include them in other pieces of editorial content, they don't align with our goal of keeping our real wedding section authentic for our readers.
• We welcome all couples. Inclusive of all couples, The Knot Real Weddings offer something for everyone. We encourage diversity in all areas: gender identity, sexual orientation, race, budget, physical ability, age, religion, culture and style.
• We want your Real Weddings. You're welcome to include a few engagement photos in a Real Weddings submission, but we don't accept submissions that are only engagement photos. Though, we do accept albums for wedding showers.

Do Couples Have to Complete a Questionnaire About Their Event?

Yes, along with the minimum photo requirement, a couple's questionnaire must be completed in order for The Knot to accept a Real Wedding submission. The questionnaire gives couples the opportunity to go in-depth about their event and helps us write a comprehensive story—it addresses everything from how the duo first met to the influences that inspired their cocktail menu.

If we're interested in the album, we'll send a link to the questionnaire for the submitter to make a copy of and send to the couple. We encourage the submitter to send the questionnaire to the couple as soon as possible to help expedite the process. Once the document is finished, email it to The Knot Editors (email addresses are disclosed on the submission platform,Two Bright Lights—more on that later) within three weeks of notification, so the Real Weddings team can get the story on our editorial calendar as soon as possible.

Does The Knot Require Exclusivity?

Yes, we require exclusivity of the wedding for three months. This means the couple and the vendors can't offer their photos and love story to other publications and social media brands for three months, which starts after the event is live on our site. And to ensure we're giving our readers the most unique, authentic and innovative content, we don't accept celebrations that have—or will be—published in another magazine or on a blog. However, it's okay for the wedding pros who produced the event to blog about it and post it on their own social media accounts. Once the three months are up, you're welcome to submit your event to other outlets for consideration.

Does Submitting a Celebration to The Knot Cost Money?

No, submissions are free and are welcome from everyone because it's important to us that couples receive the best, most creative inspiration possible through our Real Weddings.

How Recent Does a Celebration Have to Be to Be Considered?

We want to offer couples fresh and current inspiration and ideas. As a result, we ask that you don't submit an event older than one year from the day you're submitting. For example, if you're submitting an event on September 8, 2026, then the event shouldn't have occurred any earlier than September 8, 2025.

Additionally, we don't accept submissions before the event takes place. Even if you know the day is going to be epic, we ask that you hold off on submitting until the wedding takes place and the photographer has the final images.

How Many Weddings Can I Submit at One Time?

The more, the merrier. Don't feel limited to submitting just one wedding, especially if you're a wedding pro who's supremely proud of your recent work. We like to see variety.

Do Weddings Need to Be From Certain Places to Be Published?

No, The Knot is a national publication, and we love to see celebrations from wedding venues all over. Whether a couple said "I do" in New York, California or somewhere in the middle, we'd love to consider the nuptials for publication. The team is currently prioritizing domestic weddings, though we are open to unique exceptions. (See the previous note above about your key vendors, however, being listed on The Knot Vendor Marketplace.)

How Long Does It Take for The Knot Editors to Make Their Decision?

The Knot Editors review weddings on an ongoing basis. Submissions will be reviewed within 90 days, and we aim to either select or release the album submission within that time period. You'll be notified through the Two Bright Lights interface of updates. Ensure you have email notifications turned on so that you're alerted when your submission changes status.

Photo: HoangPhuong Wedding

How to Send Real Wedding Submissions to The Knot

Submitting a wedding to The Knot for consideration is simple and free. Currently, the team uses a platform called Two Bright Lights to receive and review all wedding submissions. In order to get your celebration considered for publication, you (or your team of vendors) will need to go through the following steps for the Real Weddings submission process.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Submitting to Two Bright Lights

1. Access Two Bright Lights: Log in or sign up for free on twobrightlights.com.
2. Begin the album creation process: Click the "Albums" tab in the upper toolbar and select "Create Album."
3. Get the photographer's permission: This step is only necessary for non-photographer vendors, such as wedding planners, who are submitting to The Knot. Click "Search or Select Image Owner," type the photographer's name, business name or email into the search bar, include the city and state the photographer is based in, and click the search button. Once you do this, choose the correct photographer from the list of results and click the "Send Request" button. (Editors' Note: Please alert the photographer that they'll be getting an email and will need to click "Accept" in the email.) If you don't see the photographer in the database, you will need to add their contact information and then have TBL (Two Bright Lights) send them a request. Once they've given their permission, they'll appear on the "Permission Granted" page, instead of the "Permission Pending" page. You won't be able to move forward with your submission until you have the photographer's permission.
4. Categorize your album: Pick the most relevant categories and subcategories to describe your submission. The main options are wedding, engagement, family, party or lifestyle.
5. Enter all the event details: TBL will prompt you to enter a variety of information like the celebration's location, the album story and more. Simply follow the prompts to complete.
6. Input all the vendor information: Please enter all vendors involved in the event. Many may already be in the TBL database, but if they aren't you can add them as a new vendor. If you're a photographer submitting the wedding, we encourage you to partner with the wedding planner to ensure no vendors are left off during this stage. According to our internal data, couples hire an average of 13 different vendors, so ensure you don't overlook anyone by adding your entire dream team from the DJ and the officiant to the caterer, wedding dress salon, videographer and the stationery designer.
7. Add album tags: To help give us an initial idea of what the album will look like before we view the photos, add descriptive tags. Some categories include photography style (like "film aesthetic" or "natural light"), setting (like resort or private residence), religion and season.
8. Add the images: Click the "Add Images" icon to start building your album. You can upload them directly from your computer or other image-housing platforms such as Dropbox, ShootProof, SmugMug and Zenfolio. (Important note: TBL suggests uploading high-resolution images of 5 MB in JPEG format that have a minimum size of 2,00 pixels wide.) The Knot Editors would like you to add at least 80 images from the event to upload, but you can upload up to 2,000. Only the images with check marks in the upper right hand corner are submitted to the publication, so ensure all the images you want us to see are selected.
9. Address exclusivity note: We ask for exclusive events and you'll need to select "Exclusive Submission" when the pop-up box prompts you. Our publication won't show up unless you click Exclusive.
10. Select your desired publication: For digital submissions, click *TheKnot.com.
11. Submit!